Silver Age Teen Titans vol. One

The early adventures of the teenage sidekicks are presented here.  This book contains the first fourteen stories, from the Brave and the Bold, Showcase and the first eleven issues of the Teen Titans proper.  Wonder Girl is missing from the first story, then she just appears in the second one.  The art is great, and the stories are pretty imaginative.  The Titans don't look much older than the mid-teens at this point.  They constantly refer to their peers as "kids" which makes me laugh.  There is a lot of "adult vs. kids" stories in the first part, and Batman, Aquaman, Flash and Wonder Woman come across as pretty out of touch with teens.  Considering who DC's main readers were at this point in time, that is an odd choice to make.

Young Justice: Invasion

This is the second season of this fun series. It takes place five years after the first season, which is an interesting idea in theory, but I know I would rather have seen the characters grow and find out just why things happened, though by episode 5 they have explained how some things happened and why.  It does work, but I would rather have had five more seasons of the show to watch rather than this sort of thing.  

Teen Titans Full Theme Song

here's the full theme song to the series. before I actually sat down and watched the show, I said it was the best thing about it. I'm still right, but I liked the show quite a bit more than I did originally.

Teen Titans - The Monster Round Up

four of the Teen Titans (why didn't they use Robin, how odd?) take on several space monsters in this fun fast paced cartoon. I actually saw the opening to one of these episodes, but for some reason didn't get to see the entire cartoon. it was very frustrating, I'll tell you what.

Teen Titans: Trouble in Tokyo

wrapping up my Teen Titans viewing is this movie.  the Titans go to Japan after being attacked by Saico-Tek (looking a lot like Kamen Rider W, actually) and finding a bit of a mystery when they get there.

it's fun, but nothing that couldn't have been done in the tv series itself.  the notable thing is Robin and Starfire admitting they like each other. 

I know the creators of the show wanted to make him different than Batman, but danged if they didn't actually make him seem more like Batman with his whole stance on romance.  interestingly enough, Starfire is the physical powerhouse of the team, bringing a little Wonder Woman like strength to the show.  and shades of Bruce and Diana...

it's a good little movie.  it makes sense they take it to Japan, since it tries so hard to look like a Japanese cartoon in the first place.

Teen Titans (60s)

this is from the original Teen Titans cartoon, back when there was a Wonder Girl. the Titans then didn't have much of a Rogue's gallery of villains, so Filmation did do a pretty good job with the three episodes they made. nothing original, really, but action packed and fun. and full of cornball kid dialog that adults tried so hard to get down. the comics were the same way at the time.

For Real

this episode featured the slight recurring villain Control Freak (pictured in the middle) is a crack up.  and look at some of the things he likes.

see anything familiar in every one of those silhouettes? I sure do.  heck, even the whole outline is an homage to the Ultraman opening.

I still wish the show had been done more like the other DCU cartoons, but it has grown on me quite a bit.  doggone it.  that makes me wrong 3 for 3 cartoons. 

I'm never watching the Smurfs.

Titans season four

this was my first complete Titans episode, way back when I still had cable tv.  I liked it OK back then, mostly because I love the Doom Patrol, as you can see here. 

these two episodes are not quite as good as the one of Brave and The Bold, mostly because Mento is a real disagreeable sort of leader.  that changes by the second part, but still, he makes 00s Batman look reasonable.  it's nice to hear them call each other by their real names though, I must say.

and where's the Chief?  anyway, the Brotherhood of Evil are the main villains in this final season, which I have enjoyed half of so far.  you know, me, the more heroes the better!

here's the REAL Elasti-Girl tromping on tanks.  it's a really cool shot in the show.  they did seem to not know she could also shrink herself down though.  well, I am sure they knew it, just chose to not display that power.

Titans vs Lidsville

it's amazing what I watched as a kid.  Lidsville didn't bother me too much, since I watched it from the beginning, and there was even a crossover with Pufnstuff (look it up).  however, that poor kid never did get home.  it's a dopey show now, helped only by Charles Nelson Reilly as the eville Horatio J. HooDoo.

now we have Mumbo putting the Titans into his hat.  I so wish he had done a Reilly type voice, or at least flew on the Hatamaran, but alas.  I still think it's an homage to the show, at least a little bit.

Raven is annoyed that she can't use her real magic to combat Mumbo's (possibly) fake stuff.  it all works out though.  no Witchy-poo though.

OK Titans Go

update on my Teen Titans viewing- I'm into season four, I think now, and we've almost met Raven's father and seen Hurtstroke return.  I am impressed by some of the injokes that make their way into the cartoon now.  this is one of them.

I thought it was on purpose, and then when they zoom in it's so completely a play on Giant Robo.  how many kids got that?  if BB hadn't been wearing Daisaku's wardrobe I wouldn't have been quite sure.  I'm no fan of the cartoon, but it's still a nice touch.

next time we'll talk about the Lidsville connection...

Robin-Mite, aka Larry

Superman has Mr. Mxyzptlk, Batman has Bat-Mite and Aquaman even has Qwsp/Quisp. now Robin has...

Larry.

he shows up to bedevil the Titans in one of their cartoons, and isn't nearly as annoying as Bat-mite.  it's not stated he's from the 5th dimension, but since he tells us his real name it's pretty easy to guess.

looking at that wiki page... there are a lot more of those imps running around than I ever thought there were. 

let's see Xeen Arrow...

Teen Titans #8 "Deep Six"

well, this image of "Aqualad" alone (along with the proper sound effect) makes me like the cartoon even more.

I think the thing that puts me off the most is the faux "anime" look, plus all the nonsense that goes along with it.  I like the characters,  for the most part, actually, and there's some funny stuff going on, as well as a connected story.

I really am looking forward to Hurtstroke the Injurer now.

Teen Titans the lost episode

OK, I forgot that I really enjoyed the theme song.  this is from the "lost episode" or what we used to call an unaired pilot.  and after watching it, and being a long time Titan fan (well, at least of what Perez and Wolfman did, anyway)... well, so far my opinion hasn't changed.

the Teens (they look like they are 12 or so) have to stop Punk Rocket. it's really the stupid anime gags that get me. I think I would have enjoyed it more had it been more like the JLA/U stuff.  oh well, 65 episodes left...